Dinesh Kumar Yadav

Abstract

Gaushala system in vogue in India is primarily occupied with
providing shelter to cows and is catering mostly the needs of
non-lactating, weak, unproductive, and stray cattle. As a matter of
fact, major chunk of Gaushala resources is spent on these animals;
returns being quite disproportionate. Cattle health care in general
and of unproductive cattle in particular is a major challenge
before the Gaushala managements constrained by meagre resources,
lack of trained manpower and field veterinarians.

ethno-veterinary medicine is the treasure of knowledge found in
rural India which could be an alternative and sustainable solution
to this challenge. Cattle heath care at Gaushalas with use of
ethno-veterinary medicine has tremendous potential which could
provide useful alternatives to conventional animal health care. The
resources saved by use of ethno-veterinary medicine could be
utilised for improving cattle productivity. Developing herbal and
medicinal plant nurseries in Gaushalas for use of ethno-veterinary
medicine ingredients would meet the requirements of sustainable
cattle health care in Gaushalas. Strategies for exploiting the
potential use of ethno-veterinary medicine in Gaushalas have been
suggested.

Key Words: Cattle, ethno-veterinary medicine, Gaushala

Introduction

India is having a vast reservoir of cattle genetic resources not
only in terms of population but also in genetic diversity
represented by 30 recognized cattle breeds. As per the Livestock Census (2003),
India is having about 185 million cattle population, 87% of which are indigenous and
the rest 13% constituted as crossbred. A decrease
of about 7% in the total cattle population of the country was
registered as compared to 1997. Also during this period, the indigenous
cattle population decreased by about 10%. The major factors for
decrease in cattle population are attributed to uneconomical
returns due to low productivity and replacement of draft power in
agriculture by mechanisation. As a result cattle (particularly
unproductive, old and stray) find shelter in the Gaushalas instead
of individual households. The Gaushala movement in India is
synonymous with the protection of cows and cattle wealth of the
country. Being practiced for the last five thousand years or so,
its origin can be traced in the Vedic period when social customs
and rules laid great emphasis on protection, preservation and
development of cows for home, and oxen for agriculture-fields. Cows
being the backbone of rural life and economy in India, care was
taken for their well-being and uplift. Grazing areas and grasslands
(Gochar Bhumi) were kept reserved in abundance everywhere. People
used to donate their lands to Gaushalas on auspicious occasions so that cows
could have sufficient land for grazing. The use of the word Gaushala has different connotation in the near past. The present
system in vogue is primarily occupied with providing shelter to
cows, catering the needs of non-lactating, weak, unproductive, and
stray cattle. However, this may not be true in every case. A few
fore-front Gaushalas, however, are striving to maintain indigenous
purebred cows, and produce quality males, thereby contributing to
the improvement and conservation of the cattle breeds. But most of
these are primarily catering to the needs of non-lactating, weak,
unproductive, infertile, chronically sick and stray cattle having
some physical/reproductive/mammary problem and are economically
unsustainable either at individual owner household or at organized
farm. The offspring of some of such low grade animals form another
component of cattle population of Gaushalas. Cross breeding
programme has also contributed its own quota of infertile and
nondescript animals present in the Gaushalas thereby putting
further pressure on their dwindling resources.

Animal health care is a major challenge before the Gaushala
managements constrained by meagre resources, lack of trained
manpower and field veterinarians. Besides common prevalent
diseases, major reproductive problems at Gaushalas are anestrous,
repeat breeding, uterine infection, cervicitis, pre and postpartum
vaginal prolapse, retention of placenta, dystocia and mastitis.
Lack of adequate balanced and proper nutrition is the
major cause of these problems, but non-availability of timely
expert veterinary help, irreversible/untreatable conditions of
these animals and lastly indiscriminate treatment given by lay help
hired / resourced by these Gaushalas are the other contributing
factors in the etiology of these conditions (Sharma 2005). Since
the animals in Gaushalas are already culled/low grade and further
culling is not possible, maintaining a healthy herd is a constant
challenge before the Gaushala managers. ethno-veterinary medicine
may be used extensively and effectively, for keeping animals
healthy and productive because it is often cheap, safe, time tested
and based on local resources and strengths (McCorkle 1995). Hence,
it provides useful alternatives to conventional animal health care
in general and to Gaushalas in particular keeping in view their
meagre resources and proximity to location specific ethno-veterinary
medicine practitioners. In view of meagre resources and lack of
appropriate veterinary health care the Gaushalas should constantly
endeavour two pronged strategy of separating the old, infirm and
unproductive cattle from the productive herd and integrating
ethno-veterinary treatment with the conventional animal health care
system. The resources saved by use of ethno-veterinary medicine
could be utilised for improving productivity of healthy
animals.

India has a rich heritage of
ethno-veterinary
medicinal practice but it has not been utilized properly for the
purpose of endogenous development i.e. development from within, a
case very much similar to Gaushala system in the country. The
potential of Gaushalas as breed improvement and conservation
centers and their role in rural development is yet to be exploited
to the desired extent. Existing infrastructure, committed private
management and leadership of devoted persons coupled with flow of
resources in terms of donations are some of the important factors
which render Gaushalas as ideal centers for their use in improving
cattle productivity and conservation. Since there is huge gap
between the demand and supply of veterinarians for the adequate
treatment of animals, the ethno-veterinary medicine sets this
imbalance right. It provides a sustainable, economically viable and
eco-friendly system of animal treatment and provides an opportunity
to develop a closer contact with Gaushalas and understand their
problems. An attempt has been made to give guidelines for
formulating the strategies so that Gaushalas become effective
centers for improving cattle productivity by integrating
ethno-veterinary medicine with conventional medicine. Besides
releasing pressure on the limited resources of the Gaushalas, it
would infuse this ancient art of traditional healing into the minds
of modern veterinary practitioners. The field veterinarians will
derive the benefits of the traditional recipes for the management
of cow diseases. Modern veterinary practitioners would develop
closer linkages with the tribals/farmers, shed their prejudice and
learn some of their well-known methods of diagnosis and control of
animal diseases.

Methodology

The following approach is suggested for exploiting the existing
potential of ethno-veterinary medicine for effective formulation of
strategies for improving indigenous cattle productivity in
Gaushalas.

Collection and documentation

ethno-veterinary medicine has evolved through observation, trial
and error, perfecting the techniques based on the experiences
gathered through experimentation, and handling the resulting
information down from one generation to the next. Unfortunately,
these practices are hardly documented and largely lost because they
are passed on generation to generation through verbal
communication, often resulting in the dilution and distortion of
deep observational skills and understanding developed. In this
process there is inherent danger of loosing this vast treasure of
knowledge. It is, therefore, imperative first to collect the
practices from field and then to document. Documentation is even
more important in order to understand its scientific rationale,
accelerate technological change, enable better understanding of
technology and the development of new concepts, increase awareness
among the young generation, develop appreciation for the
traditional systems, and revive and restore pride among the farmers
themselves. Most importantly, in present context, documentation
provides country's geographical indications and rights thereupon
for avoiding patent controversy, if any.

Short-listing

General observations and studies show that the
farmers are using several ethno-veterinary practices for curing
various diseases. Some of these have enough potential to cure the
diseases while others are based on superstitions and mythological
religious faiths or there is hardly any basis to be considered as
effective treatments. Moreover, there is a mixture of these
practices in bulk with the traditional farmers. Studies in rural
areas show that most technical persons are aware of traditional
knowledge systems but don't use them because these are not properly
validated. The task of scientific evaluation and validation becomes
tedious under voluminous presence of the practices available with
the farmers in the field. The author made a study on identification
and documentation of ethno-veterinary practices used by sheep
farmers in Rajasthan state of India. In a random sample of 150
sheep rearers of three districts, 182 ethno-veterinary practices
used against 17 disease conditions were found (Kumar 2000,
2002). Understanding of the mechanisms underlying such practices as
well as to institutionalize their extension to other non-practicing
farmers requires systematic explorations. For the purpose of
scientific evaluation, modification and optimization of these
traditional practices, there is a strong need to develop an
approach, which can effectively shortlist the voluminous practices
saving the time, energy and resources. Based on two parameters -the
scientific relevance score, and percent of traditional farmers
using the ethno-veterinary practice- "Short-listing Grid" has been
suggested by the author (Kumar 2006).

Scientific validation and modification through R and
D

Lack of scientific validation is the major reason for
non-adoption of ethno-veterinary medicine by field veterinarians and
trained manpower. Experiences indicate that some of the practices
are more while others are much effective. Scientific evaluation,
besides understanding the technology of the clientele helps
ascertain the degree and direction of change through formal
research and will be rewarding in adoption by the veterinarians.
It must be borne in mind that validation of ethno-veterinary
practices will require flexibility, creativity and dedication in
research application. The foresightedness of the research managers
lies in bringing together the best of science and best of healing
(Dwivedi 1998).

Integration and propagation

After evaluating the potential of these existing
technologies in depth and understanding their scientific basis
there is need to include these in an improved package of animal
health care and production technologies. There is also a strong
need of integrating the two systems i.e. western medicine
(allopathic) and ethno-veterinary medicine for sustainable Gaushala
development. This integration can play an important role at
grassroots development, which seeks to empower people by enhancing
the use of their own knowledge and resources. It will encourage
endogenous development or development from within. This will go a
long way in making a very strong case for re-orienting the cattle
health and production research by giving highest priority to the
identification, testing and modification of traditional health
technologies practiced by the farmers for centuries. Propagating
the modified and tested technologies to farmers and Gaushalas
through a video film will help overcome difficulties in treating
sick animals quickly and at low costs. There is also an urgent need
to propagate the medicinal plants at large scale and production of
commercial products following scientific evaluation and refinements
at costs affordable by farmers. It would be appropriate to hand
over the know-how obtained and refinements achieved back to the
farmers and Gaushalas, and these very farmers and Gaushalas should
be made part of the scientific and commercial processes.
Cultivation of medicinal plants by Gaushalas and their marketing
will bridge the gap between much needed availability of herbs and
medicinal plants required for ethno-veterinary medicine
ingredients.

Apex body

For achieving above said objectives an apex body
like State Cattle Commissions/ Livestock Development Boards is
necessary for formulating and executing policies and programmes.
The apex body may adopt the following mechanism for the purpose of
improving indigenous cattle productivity at Gaushalas as well as
farmers doorsteps by adopting ethno-veterinary practices:

Identifying leading Gaushalas on regional basis for
the purpose of identification and documentation of ethno-veterinary
practices. The practices will be collected from primary as well as
secondary sources (already documented).

Establishing linkages with Krishi Vigyan Kendras
(KVKs) and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) for providing
necessary manpower and infrastructure for R and D work. KVKs may
also act as nodal agencies for creating awareness among farmers and
stakeholders about ethno-veterinary medicine.

Establishing linkages with Animal Husbandry
Department of the state governments would act as a binding force
for integrating ethno-veterinary medicine with conventional
treatments and accelerating force for its propagation. Integrating
herbal and indigenous medicines with modern medicines wherever
necessary would improve the animal health care.

Developing herbal nurseries and cultivating
medicinal plants in the premises of Gaushalas would render them
ideal place for scientific evaluation, validation and modification
of ethno-veterinary medicine. Gaushalas offer excellent treatment
trial centers for validation of ethno-veterinary medicine because of
lesser risks involved as compared to local livestock
owners.

Preparing an improved health package of
scientifically evaluated practices in Vernacular, Hindi and English
languages, as per requirements, would help in extension and
propagation of use of ethno-veterinary medicine.

Conclusion

The Gaushalas have a distinct contribution in indigenous cattle
care.

Most of the Gaushalas are primarily catering to the needs of
non-lactating, weak, unproductive, and stray cattle relying on
conventional health care system.

Substantial amount of financial
resources of Gaushalas is absorbed by majority of such cattle
housed by them, thereby putting strain on the available resources
and neglect of efforts on improvement of healthy cattle.

In order
to lessen this burden there remains tremendous scope for
alternative treatment system, namely ethno-veterinary medicine,
which is cheaper and cost effective.

Gaushala sector is largely an
untapped resource as potential centre for exploiting the use of
ethno-veterinary practices.

Integrating
ethno-veterinary medicine
with conventional animal health care system would provide
sustainable use of both ethno-veterinary medicine as well as
Gaushala resources.

Institutionalized safeguards like National and
State Cattle Commissions would also tend to improve considerable
credibility to both. The suggested mechanism would lead to
improving cattle productivity in Gaushalas.

McCorkle C M 1995 Back to the future: Lessons from
ethno-veterinary RD and E for studying and applying local knowledge.
Agriculture and Human values 12(2): 52-80.

Sharma A K 2005 Common reproductive problems of the
Gaushalas and their management. Compendium of Lectures of National
Conference on Utility of Gaushalas for Improvement and Conservation
of Indigenous Cattle, December 27-28, 2005, National Bureau of
Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, India, pp: 21-26.

Received 25 November 2006; Accepted 23 March 2007; Published 1 June 2007